Vol. 495 No. 4
36 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the total number of visa applications considered by his Department in each of the years from 1995 to date; the total number of applications approved or rejected during this period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17687/98]
The Department of Foreign Affairs has responsibility for accepting all visa applications and for issuing visas.
A proportion of all applications are referred to my Department for a decision. The number of applications referred to my Department in 1996 and 1997 was 11,194 and 12,201 respectively. It is anticipated that in excess of 15,000 applications will be referred in this manner this year. Separate statistics regarding the outcome of those applications referred to my Department are not maintained on a routine basis.
